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Illegal immigration to Britain is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, with more than 25,000 arrivals recorded between January 1 and July 31 — an average of one every 12 minutes.
The milestone has been reached earlier than in any previous year on record and has ignited fierce political criticism of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government.
By contrast, the 25,000 mark was reached on Sept. 22 in 2023, and not until Oct. 2 the year before that. Even in 2022, the previous record-breaking year with a final tally of 45,774 arrivals, the milestone was not passed until Aug. 27.
Despite Starmer’s repeated promise to “smash the gangs” responsible for Channel crossings, commentators and opposition figures accuse his government of delivering even higher levels of illegal immigration than the Conservative administration it replaced — a government ousted in part due to its own failure to control the borders.
🇬🇧🚣♂️ Two days ago, Keir Starmer told U.S. President Donald Trump his Labour government was making great progress on tackling the migrant crisis.
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) July 30, 2025
Since then, nearly 800 illegal migrants have been brought ashore — over 600 today and 149 yesterday.
The latest Home Office figures… pic.twitter.com/GVyy9xbF0J
LBC broadcaster Nick Ferrari condemned the government’s approach as “pitiful, lamentable, actually laughable,” adding that the crisis had grown beyond rhetoric. “If it wasn’t so, in some cases, deadly serious — and certainly criminally serious — you could laugh at the promises to smash the gangs,” he said. “Please don’t tell me they’re all fleeing persecution and torture. Please don’t give me that utter crock. Some are, most are not.”
'Please don't tell me they are *all* fleeing persecution. Don't give me that utter crock.'
— LBC (@LBC) August 1, 2025
Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper are 'taking us for fools', a fed up @NickFerrariLBC declares, as a record 25,000 migrants arrive this year alone. pic.twitter.com/Ggsat0BBSv
Ferrari went further, slamming the government’s messaging: “They are taking us for utter fools.”
“We will always wonder about Rwanda,” he added, referencing the previous government’s attempt to establish offshore processing of illegal migrants. “We will never know, but at least it would have been worth giving it a try.”
At the beginning of the week, Prime Minister Starmer assured U.S. President Donald Trump that the U.K. was making great progress in tackling illegal migration — a claim that, in light of the recent figures, can only be described as total fabrication. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called the situation “a national emergency,” declaring 2025 “the worst year on record so far” with no credible government plan to halt the crossings.
The Conservative Party’s official social media account renewed its call for the deportation of all foreign criminals. The Reform Party replied pointedly, “You imported the foreign criminals,” highlighting the mass immigration levels that occurred under successive Tory governments.
You imported the foreign criminals. https://t.co/093trE0Jvk
— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) August 1, 2025
In July, Starmer announced a new Anglo-French agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron aimed at reducing crossings. The policy is said to involve a “one-in, one-out” mechanism under which illegal migrants returned to France would be exchanged for an asylum seeker who had not crossed the Channel. Critics, however, dismissed the deal as ineffective and unenforceable.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.” But the sharp rise in arrivals and lack of visible deterrence measures have left many unconvinced.
On Thursday, amid a spike in crossings, Reform U.K. leader Nigel Farage posted on X: “898 illegals crossed the English Channel yesterday. This means more hotels, more costs, and more people who should not be here. The public has had enough!”
The security threat from mass immigration is clear. As reported by The Times on Friday, the number of foreign-born prisoners in British jails is now at its highest since 2013. They make up one in eight inmates and cost the U.K. an estimated £580 million a year (€678 million).
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